Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I just want to tie up some loose ends by exploring a few of the points that Mr. Ellison raised. But one of the very messy features of this legislation that is barreling through Congress this week is that the GOP leadership understood how popular the ban on denial of coverage for preexisting conditions is. That is going to be a mainstay of American life. People should not be denied health care because they have a preexisting condition. That is the reason they should get health care, because they have a preexisting condition and they need it. So they don't want to get rid of that. They understand that that is politically toxic. But they don't want to have the mandate for individuals to have to purchase insurance under the Affordable Care Act. That has been the major problem they have with the ACA. That is their major anathema. They can't stand that. But guess what? You can't have one without the other. And if they believe in economics and they are being honest, they will have to concede that. Why? Well, if I am a healthy young person, as I used to be, I will say to myself: Wow, an insurance company has got to cover me, even if I have got a preexisting condition, and I am perfectly healthy now, and I don't have to buy the insurance. So I am just going to go on my merry way, la-di-da, until maybe 1 day I have got a problem, I am in an accident, or I get some kind of diagnosis. At that point, I go to an insurance company, and they are going to cover me.…”